America's Great Depression

Applied Austrian economics doesn't get better than this. Murray N. Rothbard's America's Great Depression is a staple of modern economic literature and crucial for understanding a pivotal event in American and world history. The book remains canonical today because the debate is still very alive.

Description

This book applies Austrian business cycle theory to understanding the onset of the 1929 Great Depression. Rothbard first summarizes the Austrian theory and offers a criticism of competing theories, including the views of Keynes.

Rothbard then considers Federal Reserve policy in the 1920s, showing its inflationary character. The influence of Benjamin Strong, the Governor of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, was especially important. In part, his expansionary policy was motivated by his desire to help Britain sustain the pound. Strong was close friends with Montagu Norman, the Governor of the Bank of England.

After the 1929 crash, Herbert Hoover followed an interventionist policy that prefigured the New Deal. He favored keeping wage rates high and thus contributed to rising unemployment. Against the popular stereotype, Rothbard shows that Hoover was not a partisan of laissez-faire.

Reviews

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by Davison 5/29/2013from Jackson

Best source for ABCT

This book is half theory and half history. The first half is the best explanation of Austrian Business Cycle Theory I have read. The second half deals with the history of the 20's and Hoover's administration. I was astounded by the detail and breadth of the research. Put it this way: if you were to underline the best lines, you'd struggle to find a paragraph without an underlined sentence.

by Douglas Breuschon 11/16/2009from Atlanta

Americas Great Depression

This book was classic from cover to cover. Even the reprinted introductions to the five separate editions are extremely interesting. Pages 19-23 describe the EXACT ways a government can hobble an economic recovery. Rothbard shows that these mistakes are the favorite policies that big government politicians use to try to HELP a recovery. Our politicians are making these EXACT mistakes today.

by Rachel Silversteinon 10/2/2009from Marietta GA

I need help

Hello,
My name is Rachel Silverstein. I am an eighth grade student at The Walker School, in Marietta, GA. I am doing a project for one of my classes, and my topic is: The government’s plan to solve the current economic crisis in the US will lead toward Great Depression 2.
I am in need of someone that I can interview on this subject either by telephone, email, or video. Any help that you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Please contact me at either
rachel.silverstein@thewalkerschool.org
I am truly thankful for your time, and understand if you cannot contact me.
Sincerely,
Rachel Silverstein
Marietta, GA

by Harry Dingeyon 7/6/2009from Zanesville, Ohio

America Must Pull Out of NAFTA and the WTO to SURVIVE..

I FIRST POSTED THIS ARTICLE NINE MONTHS AGO..
Things will get a little better for a short period time because of the small Federal Cash Tax Rebate during May. Half of that Money will end up in China because it will be spent on Chinese Imports at Wal-Mart.
The Housing Prices will continue falling because of the Unemployed Workers can not pay their Mortgages. The Employed Workers will default on Mortgages because the House Value falls below the amount owed the Bank. You can not have a recovery as long as housing prices are following and I see no end in sight.
America Must Pull Out of NAFTA and the WTO to SURVIVE..
It seems none of President Obama's CFR Globalist appointments understands the real problem.
Yes, most of the American Banks are collapsing all around us because these Banks hold Mortgages on these Houses where the Values have fallen far below the amount of the Bank Mortgage.
Ouch.. That means most of these Banks are maybe holding $100K mortgages on millions of houses where the house values have fallen to maybe $50k.
President Obama and all his Globalist appointees are running around in circles trying to save all these Banks from defaulting because if these Banks are allowed to default the Federal Government will totally collapse and absolutely falls off into the abyss.
This is a big problem of course. But, this is merely a symptom of the real problem that caused this Humongous Financial Problem.
So, then what was the REAL THING that caused this Financial Problem?
This all started back in 1992 and 1993 when America joined NAFTA and the WTO.
That was the beginning of the end for America.
The Globalist had finally bought off most of our American politicians and (like Perot said) the swishing sound you heard was all the highest paying American jobs was moved to Mexico and then later when China joined the WTO, they started to moving all the highest paying jobs off to China to hire slave Labor at $2/day.
Now you ask. How would NAFTA and the WTO cause so much Financial Problems?
Please tell me what happens when you have a $100k mortgage on a house and your job gets sent off to China.
You are forced to take a job flipping Hamburgers at McDonalds at minimal wages if you’re lucky.
You have taken a cut in pay of maybe $15/hour. But, you’re still on the hook to pay off that $100k house mortgage payment. So, you start using your Credit Card and before long you have maxed out your Credit Card.
Now what are your options?
You keep falling further and further behind then at some point you are forced to default on your house payment and the house goes back to the Bank to satisfy the Bank Mortgage.
Now, since this exact same thing is happening to millions of American Workers all across America from all these high paying jobs being moved off shore to Mexico, India and China.
The Banks are overwhelmed when all these house owners go into default on their mortgages, then all the Banks start to losing humongous amounts of money. Then the Federal Reserve gets involved trying to save all these Banks from default.
The next thing happens is that all these Real Estate Properties start to come on the market and the Property Values all across America start to falling big time.
Now, that creates another problem. What should a home owner do if he owes $100k mortgage on a house and the value of the house falls to $50k?
Of course if you’re laid-off because your Job was moved to Mexico, India or China, you’re forced to default on the house mortgage. Default is totally understandable.
What about the guy who has a good job and can afford to make his monthly house payments?
Why should he agree to make payments on $100k mortgage, when the house is only worth $50k?
So, he walks away from the huge $100k mortgage and lets the Bank eat it.
Some of these houses in Florida, two years ago was worth $150K and now can be purchased for $60K from the local Bank.
Now, let’s go back to the real problem.
If the Real Problem is never addressed and all those jobs that was sent off shore are never brought back to American, then all these Trillion Dollar Bailouts will just cause a false temporarily product demand for a short period of time.
Then America will be right back in the soup again.
Except this time the problem will be exponentially worse because we now owe all those Trillions of Dollars in Bailout loans from China plus the Interest Payments too.
You really do not have to worry because if all them jobs are not brought back to America from China soon. America will go into a total collapses.
Then at some point the American People will finally figure out exactly who caused this DEPRESSION and exactly how it was caused. At some point the American people are going to get really p-i-s-s-e-d off at all of the Washington Politicians of both parties.
Washington Politicians are shipping all of the manufacturing jobs off shore (that pays about $42,000/year) and they are sitting on their a-s-s in Washington drawing a current salary for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate of $174,000 per year.
I want to remind you they are all armed to the teeth and I promise you they will not give up everything they have worker for all of their life and then go away peacefully.
Why do all of these Politicians in Washington care more about the workers in every other country than they do about the very people who sent them to Washington? Where does their loyalty lay?
So, that’s exactly where we are right now and where we are going to stay until all those highly intelligent Harvard graduates give up on this Globalize Free Trade idea and that great “NEW WORLD ORDER” and bring back all of them high paying jobs from Mexico, India and China.
What really makes all of this so sad is that all of Trillions Dollar Bailout is totally unnecessary. If American would pull out of NAFTA and the WTO right now everything would start to correct all by it’s self automatically almost over night.
Let me finalize my argument by saying…
World Globalization will never work like they planned because if all of the Industrial Countries moved all the higher paying Jobs off shore to China where the worker is paid slave labor of $2/day.
The Middle Class Workers of all the Industrialized Countries will be living on the street and the workers in China will not make enough money to purchase the vary products they produce.
Now, Please tell me who in the HELL is left to purchase all those products being produced by $2/day slave labor in China?
I have “define the real problem that has caused this World Depression”.
Now, I will tell exactly who was the ones that have caused it and Why.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) was founded by a few Super Rich Jews back in 1921.
Their Specific goal is Globalize International Trade and then enact a NEW WORLD ORDER that will control the entire world and all country borders will be obviated.
You may have already guessed who will control this New World.
Of Course the CFR members will be the ones in total control this New World Order.
Why were all of the 2008 Presidential Candidates members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)?
The CFR members are everywhere and make no mistake about it and they TOTALLY control every major decision make by all Top American Government Officials including the President of America. I understand that 90% of all the CFR members are JEWS.
All of the "top-tier" candidates for president in both parties was the members of a secretive organization called The Council on Foreign Relations. The goals of the CFR are contrary to the laws of our nation and its well-being.
Their members are an elite aristocracy that look at your wealth as their own, your children as their cannon-fodder, and your lives as their property.
Please tell me how any American could still vote for someone, knowingly he has an agenda to Bankrupt your Great Country over-throw your Federal Government from within and take away all your personal liberties?
If these candidates were members of the some white supremest group, or the Communist Party or any other openly disgusting organization they would be derided, ridiculed and run from office.
Yet we have allowed them to infiltrate every aspect of our lives including our government, our schools, and our businesses.
President John F. Kennedy warned us about the influence and dangers of this and similar organizations. 10 days latter, he was shot dead in the streets of Dallas.
So long as CFR puppets remain in power, the murderers of JFK remain in power.
We can change that this coming election. All you have to do is cross all CFR members off your list when choosing our next president.
The CFR members are the TOP PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATES in BOTH PARTIES:
Fred Thompson (CFR) Republican.
Rudy Giuliani (CFR) Republican.
John McCain (CFR) Republican.
.
Mitt Romney (CFR) Republican.
Jim Gilmore (CFR) Republican.
.
Newt Gingrich (CFR) Republican.
Barack Obama (CFR) Democrat.
Hillary Clinton (CFR) Democrat.
Barack Obama (CFR) Democrat.
John Edwards (CFR) Democrat.
Joe Biden (CFR) Democrat.
Chris Dodd (CFR) Democrat.
Bill Richardson (CFR) Democrat.
Present / Past Presidents and Vice Presidents Members of Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Barack Obama (CFR) / Joe Biden (CFR) Democrats.
George W. Bush (CFR) / Dick Cheney (CFR) Republicans.
Bill Clinton (CFR) / Al Gore (CFR) Democrats.
George H. Bush (CFR) / Dan Quayle (CFR) Republicans.
Ronald Reagan / George H. Bush (CFR) (I think Reagan was closet CFR). Republicans.
The only major Presidential Candidate that was not a member of the Council on Foreign Relations was RON PAUL.
RON PAUL was 100% for the American People and a Real American Patriot.
But, the Wall Street gangsters, International Bankers banksters and the International Manufacturing gangsters have all the big money and they put their money behind and supported all of the secretive (CFR) members..

by Beta Hateron 5/30/2009

The Greatest Book on the Great Depression

Murray Rothbard's "America's Great Depression" is absolutely amazing. This book will change the way you see 20th century history. The book begins with a theoretical explanation of the cycle. The second half of the book confirms the theoretical arguments with a detailed examination of history. Rothbard more than proves that inflationary policies during the 1920's caused the necessary bust, and Hoover and Roosevelt's policies made any recovery impossible.
Kevin's criticisms are baseless: he espouses the Central Claim of Empiricism (CCE). The CCE claims all knowledge is gained by experience. Yet the CCE itself cannot be gained by experience. So Kevin is caught up in a "performative contradiction". Rothbard's theoretical discussion is methodoligaly justifiable.
This book is crucial during these economic times. Our policy makers are repeating the same mistakes of the 1930s. This book will shed light on the consequences of recent government policies: inflation and stagnation.